The Game of the Century

The Game of the Century usually refers to a chess game played between Donald Byrne and the 13-year old Bobby Fischer in the Rosenwald Memorial Tournament in New York City on October 17, 1956. It was nicknamed « The Game of the Century » by Hans Kmoch in Chess Review. Kmoch wrote, « The following game, a stunning masterpiece of combination play performed by a boy of 13 against a formidable opponent, matches the finest on record in the history of chess prodigies. »

Contents

Background

Donald Byrne (1930–1976) was one of the leading American chess masters at the time of this game. He had won the 1953 U.S. Open Championship, and would later represent the United States in the 1962, 1964, and 1968 Olympiads. He became an International Master in 1962, and would likely have risen further if not for ill health. Robert « Bobby » Fischer (1943–2008) was at this time a promising young master. Following this game, he had a meteoric rise, winning the 1957 U.S. Open on tiebreaks, winning the 1957-58 U.S. (Closed) Championship (and all seven later championships he played in), qualifying for the Candidates Tournament and becoming the world’s youngest grandmaster at age 15 in 1958. He won the world championship in 1972, and is considered one of the greatest chessplayers in history.

In this game, Fischer (playing Black) demonstrates noteworthy innovation and improvisation. Byrne (playing White), after a standard opening, makes a seemingly minor mistake on move 11, losing tempo by moving the same piece twice. Fischer pounces, with brilliant sacrificial play, culminating in an incredible queen sacrifice on move 17. Byrne captures the queen, but Fischer gets far too much material for it – a rook, two bishops, and a pawn. At the end, Fischer’s pieces coordinate to force checkmate, while Byrne’s queen sits, helpless, at the other end of the board.

Graham Burgess, John Nunn, and John Emms suggest three lessons to be learned from this game, which can be summarized as follows:

In general, don’t waste time by moving the same piece twice in an opening; get your other pieces developed first;

Material sacrifices are likely to be effective if your opponent’s king is still in the middle and a central file is open;

The game

1. Nf3
A noncommittal move by Byrne. From here, the game can develop into a number of different openings.

1. … Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7
Fischer defends based on » hypermodern » principles, inviting Byrne to establish a classical pawn stronghold in the center, which Fischer intends to target and undermine with his fianchettoed bishop and other pieces.

4. d4 0-0
Fischer castles, bringing his king to safety. The black move 4…d5 would have reached the Grünfeld Defence immediately. After Fischer’s 4…0-0, Byrne could have played 5.e4, whereupon 5…d6 6.Be2 e5 reaches the main line of the King’s Indian Defense.

5. Bf4 d5 (Grünfeld Defence, 5.Bf4, D92)
The game has now transposed to the Grünfeld Defence, usually initiated by 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5.

6. Qb3
A form of the so-called Russian System (the usual move order is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3), putting pressure on Fischer’s central d5 pawn.

6. … dxc4
Fischer relinquishes his center, but draws Byrne’s queen to a square where it is a little exposed and can be attacked.

7. Qxc4 c6
Also possible is the more aggressive 7…Na6 (the Prins Variation), preparing …c5 to challenge White’s center.

8. e4 Nbd7
In later games, Black played the more active 8…b5 followed by 9…Qa5. An example is Bisguier – Benko, U.S. Championship 1963-64. Fischer’s choice is a little slow, although one would not guess that from the subsequent play.

9. Rd1 Nb6 10. Qc5
An awkward square for the queen, which leaves it exposed to a possible …Na4 or …Ne4, as Fischer brilliantly demonstrates. Since both of those squares are protected by Byrne’s knight on c3, he understandably did not appreciate the danger. 10.Qb3 would have left the queen better placed, although it would have invited further harassment with 10…Be6.

10. … Bg4
Byrne’s pawns control the center squares. However, Fischer is ahead in piece development and has castled, while Byrne’s king is still in the center. These factors would not have been very significant had Byrne attended to his development on his next move.

11. Bg5?
Byrne errs, moving the bishop a second time instead of completing his development. Burgess, Nunn and Emms, as well as Wade and O’Connell, suggest 11. Be2, protecting the King and preparing kingside castling. Flear-Morris, Dublin 1991, continued 11. Be2 Nfd7 12. Qa3 Bxf3 13. Bxf3 e5 14. dxe5 Qe8 15. Be2 Nxe5 16. O-O and White was slightly better. Byrne doubtless thought that Black’s slight lead in development would be transitory, not anticipating the maelstrom that his young opponent now initiates.

11. … Na4!!
« One of the most powerful moves of all time. » (Jonathan Rowson). Fischer offers an ingenious knight sacrifice. If Byrne plays 12.Nxa4, Fischer will play Nxe4, leaving Byrne with some terrible choices:

15. … Nxc3! Now if 16.Qxc3, Rfe8 pins the bishop to White’s king, thus regaining the sacrificed piece with an extra pawn.

16. Bc5 Rfe8+ 17. Kf1
Byrne threatens Fischer’s queen; Fischer brings his rook into play, misplacing Byrne’s king. Now Fischer’s pyrotechnics seem to be at an end. Surely he must save his queen, whereupon White can play 18.Qxc3, with a winning material advantage.

17. … Be6!!
This stunning resource is the move that made this game famous. Instead of saving his queen, Fischer offers to sacrifice it. Fischer pointed out that 17…Nb5? loses to 18.Bxf7+ Kxf7 19.Qb3+ Be6 20.Ng5+ Kg8 21.Nxe6 Nxd4 22.Nxd4+ Qxb3 23.Nxb3.

18. Bxb6?
Byrne takes the offered queen, hoping to outplay his 13-year-old opponent in the ensuing complications. However, Fischer gets far too much for his queen, leaving Byrne with a hopeless game. The move 18.Bxe6 would have been even worse, leading to a smothered mate with 18…Qb5+ 19.Kg1 Ne2+ 20.Kf1 Ng3+ 21.Kg1 Qf1+! 22.Rxf1 Ne2#. White’s 18.Qxc3 would have been met by 18…Qxc5! and if 19.dxc5, Bxc3. White’s best chance may have been 18.Bd3 Nb5!, which Kmoch wrote would also result in « a win for Black in the long run ».

18. … Bxc4+
Fischer now begins a ‘windmill’ series of discovered checks, picking up material.

24. Qb4 Ra4!
Fischer’s pieces cooperate nicely: the bishop on g7 protects the knight on c3, which protects the rook on a4, which in turn protects the bishop on c4 and forces Byrne’s queen away. Perhaps Byrne overlooked this move when analyzing 18.Bxb6, expecting instead 24…Nxd1? 25.Qxc4, which is much less clear. Otherwise, it is hard to explain why Byrne played 18.Bxb6, since Black now has a clearly winning position.

25. Qxb6
Unfortunately for Byrne, he has nothing better than this pawn-grab, since he has no queen move available that would protect his threatened rook on d1.